Busted: Drug-Fueled Homos In the Vatican.

One Pentined-up senior member of the curia says it has "'never been worse.'"

As I said in the combox the other day: I'm not surprised. So many 'busts' and 'breaking news' stories may mean that the so called 'gay lobby' is in demolition mode.  Pope Benedict began removing the filth, and it appears Pope Francis is still working on the problem.  

According to reports in the mainstream media, Vatican police broke up a drug-fueled homosexual debauched party in an apartment of the Holy Office, but how true is it? 

The news first broke in a June 28 article in Il Fatto Quotidiano: the Vatican gendarmerie raided a flat in the same building as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith where they discovered hard drugs and a group of men engaged in homosexual activity. A number of prominent secular English-speaking media outlets have subsequently published extensive details of the Il Fatto Quotidiano report. 

The article claims the occupant of the apartment was the secretary to Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, the Church’s most important canon law office. 

The report further claims that the area of the building was reserved not just for monsignors but senior curial officials, suggesting that the secretary had influential friends in high places to secure such a prestigious apartment. 

Others residing in the Holy Office reportedly complained about a steady stream of young male visitors and of noisy parties in the secretary’s apartment — complaints that prompted the police raid. Further suspicions were also raised when others saw the secretary, a monsignor from the diocese of Prenestina near Rome, had access to a luxury car with Vatican plates which allegedly allowed him to bring drugs into the Vatican without ever being stopped by the Vatican police. - Finish reading here.

In 1049, St. Peter Damian's Liber Gomorrhianus condemned homosexual sodomy.  It was apparently rampant back then as well.  Part of the purification process is exposing the sin, as St Paul counselled: "Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them."  One does that without sensationalizing the sin.  It seems that could be what is going on in this Pontificate.  It is good to recall that St. Paul also admonished: "As for lewd conduct or ... lust of any sort, let them not even be mentioned among you; your holiness forbids this."  Therefore sensationalized stories and photos are not necessary for review.

Pentin's report is not sensationalized and is pretty much factual - although I hate 'unnamed but reliable' or 'highly placed' anonymous spokesmen.  But that is how these things go.

Having said that, I think it is important to reconsider the writing of Catherine of Siena, as Pentin does in his report.  Especially since hostility to Catholic teaching on homosexuality increases with every scandal such as this one.

Even demons are repulsed. 

In light of the latest scandal and the current situation, one former official urged readers to recall the warnings of the Lord on homosexual acts, especially between priests, as explained by St. Catherine of Siena in her Dialogues written as if dictated by God Himself. 

The medieval mystic, co-patron of Rome and Doctor of the Church, relayed the words at a time when a number of clergy had fallen into grave sin. 

Such priests, the Lord told St. Catherine, not only fail from resisting their fallen nature, “but do even worse as they commit the cursed sin against nature [homosexual acts].”
“Like the blind and stupid having dimmed the light of the understanding, they do not recognize the disease and misery in which they find themselves,” the Lord continued, adding that it not only causes God “nausea, but displeases even the demons themselves, whom these miserable creatures have chosen as their lords.” 

He added that “this sin against nature is so abominable that, for it alone, five cities were submersed, by virtue of the judgement of My Divine Justice, which could no longer bear them.” The Lord told St. Catherine that even the demons are “repulsed upon seeing such an enormous sin being committed.” - More here.

It seems to me the Lord is cleansing the Church first, and then the world.  More than five cities may be lost this time.

Fire will come down from heaven.  

The monastery bell at twilight ... too important to forget ...

July 6 - Father Neil Paquette

Our Father Neil passed away this morning, fifteen minutes after Fr. Mark administered the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. We will celebrate his funeral Mass and burial at 7am on Monday, July 10.

Father Neil Paquette was born in 1937 in Harrisburg, PA (USA). He entered New Melleray in 1975 and made his solemn profession in 1980. Fr. Neil was 80 years old and five days short of the 40th anniversary of his first profession of monastic vows when the Lord called him. He succumbed to a brief bout with an aggressive cancer after several years of living with the effects of a stroke.


New Melleray

"The true monk is he who perseveres in the monastery until death." - Dom Philip

Pray for us Fr. Neil.

Archbishop Chaput Reviews ...

Fr. Martin's book ...

In his recent book Building a Bridge (HarperOne), Father James Martin, S.J., calls the Church to a spirit of respect, compassion and sensitivity in dealing with persons with same-sex attraction. This is good advice. It makes obvious sense. He asks the same spirit from persons in the LGBT community when dealing with the Church. Father Martin is a man whose work I often admire. Building a Bridge, though brief, is written with skill and good will.

But what the text regrettably lacks is an engagement with the substance of what divides faithful Christians from those who see no sin in active same-sex relationships. The Church is not simply about unity – as valuable as that is – but about unity in God’s love rooted in truth. If the Letter to the Romans is true, then persons in unchaste relationships (whether homosexual or heterosexual) need conversion, not merely affirmation. If the Letter to the Romans is false, then Christian teaching is not only wrong but a wicked lie. Dealing with this frankly is the only way an honest discussion can be had.

And that honesty is what makes another recent book – Why I Don’t Call Myself Gay by Daniel Mattson (Ignatius) – so extraordinarily moving and powerful. As Cardinal Robert Sarah writes in the Foreword, Mattson’s candor about his own homosexuality, his struggles and failures, and his gradual transformation in Jesus Christ “bears witness to the mercy and goodness of God, to the efficacy of his grace, and to the veracity of the teachings of his Church.”

In the words of Daniel Mattson himself:

We cannot remain reluctant to speak about the beauty of the Church’s teaching on sexuality and sexual identity for fear that it will appear “unloving,” “irrational,” or “unreal.” We need to love the world enough to speak about the Christian vision of sexual reality, confident that God’s creation of man as male and female is truly part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ we are called to proclaim to a lost and confused world. We need to be a light for the world and speak passionately about the richness of the Church’s understanding of human sexuality. We can’t place the Good News of the Church’s teaching on human sexuality under a bushel any longer, for the world desperately needs the truth we have (p. 123).

Spoken from experience. Spoken from the heart. No one could name the truth more clearly. - Archbishop Chaput

It bears repeating, over and over if necessary:

As the Catechism teaches: "Basing itself on sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered. They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved" - Catechism of the Catholic Church 2357

"'Fitting in' to a society of deeply dysfunctional sexuality results in the ruin that we see in so many other dying Christian communities." - Chaput

Poverty of spirit.

The convincing power of the Holy Spirit ...

Denuding, stripping away all that we cling to, making us even poorer -  is his gift.

A particularly important kind of denudation, through which the Holy Spirit prepares us for his 'decent,' is the process of stripping us of the false image we have of ourselves and freeing us from living a falsehood.  In the Gospel, St. John relates the promise of Christ to us that the Paraclete - the Holy Spirit - will convince the world about sin when he comes.  Thus one of the functions of the Holy Spirit is to convince us of our sin, therefore bestowing upon us the grace of humility.  This is the fundamental grace of the Holy Spirit. - Fr. Tadeuz Dajczer

Holy Spirit, inspire me.
Love of God consume me.
Along the true road, lead me.
Mary, my good mother, look down upon me.
With Jesus, bless me.
From all evil, all illusion, all danger, preserve me. 

- Bl. Mary of Jesus Crucified, OCD

Today's first reading at Mass ... Lot's wife.

Mrs. Lot looked back

because she loved fireworks.

July 4, 2017

Today's first reading from Genesis told the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and how Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt because she looked back at the destruction of the Sodomites.  The reading, be it read for the Mass today or substituted with another, remains providential.  The Liturgy of the Word is Christ speaking to the Church.   I often think of this reading, and the Precautions of St. John of the Cross.

Perhaps Lot's wife was suffering from acedia?  

I was reading about acedia in this month's Magnificat.  Acedia is a sin against memory.  Fr. Cameron says 'it is therefore essential to be ever mindful and attentive - to recollect the particular marvels that God has accomplished in our personal history.'  Maybe it's a stretch, Mrs. Lot was maybe just curious.  But I think acedia may be epidemic these days.  I may be wrong.

Anyway - for my personal meditation, I returned to St. John of the Cross again.  No matter how often I read him, I continue to learn, and someday hope to put into practice.  I keep trying.

"Take Lot's wife as an example, because she was troubled at the destruction of the Sodomites and turned her head to watch what was happening, God punished her by converting her into a pillar of salt. You are thus to understand God's will: that even though you live among devils you should not turn the head of your thoughts to their affairs, but forget these things entirely and strive to keep your soul occupied purely and entirely in God, and not let the thought of this thing or that hinder you from doing so." - St. John of the Cross

Just remember, Catholic doctrine cannot change. 

St. John of the Cross wrote several precautions on how to be a good religious.  Though they are directed more or less to cloistered religious, the 'spirit' of his doctrine may be helpful for ordinary Catholics to consider.  Especially for those of us who can be distracted by sensationalized stories regarding the Pope and what he purportedly said in public or private conversations.  The following precaution pertains to the attitude the subject should have towards his superior.

The second precaution

12. Let the second precaution be that you always look on the superior as though on God, no matter who he happens to be, for he takes God's place. And note that the devil, humility's enemy, is a great and crafty meddler in this area. Much profit and gain come from considering the superior in this light, but serious loss and harm lie in not doing so. Watch, therefore, with singular care that you not dwell on your superior's character, mode of behavior, ability, or any other methods of procedure, for you will so harm yourself as to change your obedience from divine to human, being motivated only by the visible traits of the superior, and not by the invisible God whom you serve through him.

Your obedience is vain and all the more fruitless in the measure that you allow the superior's unpleasant character to annoy you or his good and pleasing manners to make you happy. For I tell you that by inducing religious to consider these modes of conduct, the devil has ruined a vast number of them in their journey toward perfection. Their acts of obedience are worth little in God's sight, since they allow these considerations to interfere with obedience.

If you do not strive, with respect to your personal feelings, to be unconcerned about whether this one or another be superior, you will by no means be a spiritual person, nor will you keep your vows well. - Collected Works

"Never be scandalized or astonished at anything you happen to see or learn of, endeavoring to preserve your soul in forgetfulness of all of that. For should you desire to pay heed to things, many will seem wrong, even though you live amongst angels, because of your not understanding the nature of them." - St. John of the Cross

4th of July apocalypse bonus ...

Though late for the launch,

Mrs. Wallace survived the Flood

by surfing to the ark 

only to be picked out of

the water by a giraffe.

Many explosions in the city tonight, but so far we are safe.

A saint for July 4th.

July 4 is the feast day of Bl. Pier Giorgio, shown above partying with his friends.

[Pier Giorgio is the one wearing the paper hat.]

“To live without faith, without a patrimony to defend, without a steady struggle for truth, that is not living, but existing.” - Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati.  April 6, 1901 - July 4, 1925

Strive for peace with everyone, and for that holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 

 

See to it that no one be deprived of the grace of God,

that no bitter root spring up and cause trouble, 

through which many may become defiled,  

that no one be an immoral or profane person like Esau, 

who sold his birthright for a single meal.  

For you know that later, when he wanted to inherit his father’s blessing, 

he was rejected because he found no opportunity to change his mind, 

even though he sought the blessing with tears. - Hebrews 12

"He who praises you deceives you." -John of the Cross quoting Isaiah.

Does Anyone Know For Sure?

Are contemplative nuns becoming embroiled in Vatican controversies?

I read a comment by a priest who happens to be a chaplain to Carmelite nuns.  A Carmel in the hinterlands.  I have to wonder ... Are contemplative nuns (and monks for that matter) obsessed and distracted by all of this anti-Papist garbage spewed online, especially from 1P5 where said priest, Fr. RP* is a contributor?  Do these communities listen to all the garbage said against the pope, the cardinals, the dicasteries?  Are chaplains who claim the laity is stupefied by all that is going on really advising contemplative nuns?

I hope not.

 It seems to me sites like Canon 212 and 1P5 are the ones which literally stupefy and confuse online Catholics.  The Catholic League wastes its time and donor money by going after petty 'anti-Catholic' films and pop-culture MSM.  The anti-Catholics are all over Catholic social media, influenced by anti-Vatican II and anti-papist Catholics who are on the precipice of sedevacantistism.

I exaggerate a bit there, but I can't imagine a monastic community would involve themselves in all the gossip and calumny which absorbs online Catholics these days - or even listen to reports about it.  I hope it is not true - talk about the smoke of Satan infiltrating the Church.

Although St. Teresa of Avila was certainly aware of those awful Lutherans, depriving souls of sacred images and the real presence of Christ and so on.  So I guess enclosed religious know a great deal more of what is going on in the Church and the world than one might expect.

Just thinking out loud here.

Although, separation from the world is why monasteries are built - over time, some have even resembled fortifications - traditionally iron grills were set in place, with spikes.  Today, big priories and abbeys are under construction for souls to flee the world and enclose themselves in hermitages, only to let the world in, opening to the internet and those who fill in the blanks at the turn or in the parlour with the latest gossip on what prelate said this, or what the pope didn't say by way of correction for something the media claimed he said.

Maybe that doesn't happen?  Maybe.

Some remedies and reminders.

Religious controllers, correctors, and castigators are not found only in the cloister. Very often they lurk in sacristies, piously fussing about, and, like the devil, "seeking someone to devour." - Vultus Christi 

Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things
Whoever has God lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.- St. Teresa of Avila

A story from the life of St. Therese.

"The thought that there were some religious communities who were submitting to unjust laws against the Church promulgated by the anti-Catholic secular power, filled me (Celine) with indignation. One day in Therese's presence I exclaimed, 'My entire being rises up in in rebellion when I witness such a spirit of cowardice. I would be cut into a thousand pieces rather than belong to any of these communities or to assist them in any way.'

The Saint answered: 

'We should not be concerned about such matters at all. It is true that I would be of your opinion and act perhaps in the same way had I any responsibility in the matter. But I have no obligation whatsoever. Moreover, our only duty is to become united to God. Even if we were members of those communities which are being publicly criticized for their defections, we would be greatly at fault in becoming disquieted on that account.'" - "My Sister, St. Therese" - Sr. Genevieve of the Holy Face

Catherine of Siena was a lay-woman, contemplative in the world, but even she counseled against gossip.

"What the devil can't do himself he does by using other people. He takes up his position on the tongues and in the hearts of his servants and before their mind's eye. He makes them see what doesn't exist. So they conceive within their hearts all sorts of evil thoughts and resentments regarding their neighbors - often regarding those they most love." - S. Catherine of Siena

Remember Lot's wife:

Take warning from the example of Lot's wife who, because she was disturbed at the destruction of Sodom, turned back to look at it. God punished her for this, and she was 'turned into a pillar of salt' (Genesis 19.26). This teaches you that it is the will of God, even if you were living among devils, you should so live as not to turn back in thought to consider what they are doing, but forget them utterly. You are to keep your soul wholly to God, and not to suffer the thought of this or that to disturb you. - John of the Cross

"Gru's Minions are nothing but gateway

images to get kids hooked on

prescription drugs

and contraceptives.

It's anti-Catholic.  

I'm against it."

*Father RP

Father RP is the Pastor of two small town Catholic Parishes in the hinterland. He has served in parish ministry since ordination, and also as a priest confessor/spiritual director for a Carmelite Monastery for seven years. Prior to answering the call to the priesthood of Jesus Christ he did all kinds of things, including turning away from atheism and agnosticism.  - Profile from 1P5

Note: He's not from here - that is, part of the Archdiocese of St.P/MPLS.

Madonna Della Strada - The Jesuit Madonna

The late medieval mural of Santa Maria della Strada was on an external wall of the small chapel of Our Lady of the Way in Rome. It was here that Ignatius prayed and eventually set up the headquarters of his new Society. Ignatius would have known the image well and, throughout his life, had a particular devotion to Our Lady under whose patronage he placed the Society of Jesus.

The small chapel of Santa Maria della Strada was demolished to make way for the Church of the Gesù, begun in 1568 and consecrated in 1584. The image was preserved and is today in the north chapel, having recently undergone restoration. - Source

Lord, holy Father,
you revealed to us the way, the truth, and the life
in your belove Son.
Grant that by faithfully following his example and teaching,
and through the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
we may be led in safety to you.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

 I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope.

 In me is all grace of the way and of the truth, in me is all hope of life and of virtue.

- Sirach 24

Blessed and immaculate Mother Mary,

Be for me an example of surrender and engagement.

Create within me

a heart that is honest and pure,

a heart that offers a haven to others,

a heart that is generous and resolute, ever able to overcome difficulties,

always ready to begin again

a humble heart

that expects everything from Jesus

your Son and our Lord. Amen

Ignatius at Montserrat.

Why I love the Jesuits, and even the 'bad' ones ...

St. Teresa of Avila had great respect for the Jesuits.  Someplace in her writings, I forgot where, she mentions she had a vision about a certain order (of priests) who would endure until the end of the world, and be most effective at that time.  She never revealed which order she thought it might be.  I have often wondered if it would be the Jesuits, because they have been so maligned throughout their existence, even suppressed, yet the Jesuits endure and they turn out great martyrs and saints, even in our day.  Imagine how much Our Lady loves her sons!

The Return of the Spanish Inquisition ...

Archbishop Luis Ladaria SJ

Very good news.

A Jesuit is named to head the CDF.  Yay!  Him loves Jesuits.

Born in Manacor, on the Spanish island of Majorca, Archbishop Ladaria is known to be a kind, affable and theologically conservative prelate who has a special interest in patristics, the branch of theology that deals with the lives, writings, and doctrines of the early Christian theologians. 

On being appointed by Benedict XVI as Secretary to the CDF in 2008, he gave an interview with the magazine 30Giorni in which he said “it doesn’t take much effort to find out the relevance of the Fathers of the Church” whose work we must “read and savor” to be “better able to approach the freshness of the Gospel message, Jesus.” He said that is of “permanent value rather than something tied to what is topical, which by its nature is variable, changing minute by minute.” 

He also said he does not like “extremisms, either progressive, or traditionalist ones” but believes “there is a via media” which is the “correct path to take, even if each of us has his own peculiarities, because, thanks be to God, we do not repeat, we are not clones.”
In the same interview, he underlined the role of the CDF which is first about “promoting and then, if necessary, protecting” the faith. He added that the Congregation “always moves with discretion and speaks exclusively through its acts.” - Pentup Edward

Summer In The Forest. Lose yourself to find your heart ...

‘Jean Vanier is a man who loves us very much. 

He loves me very much. He taught me about calm.’

- Michel Petit, L'Arche

Living with loss...

‘We all live with loss. It’s inevitable. We begin, most of us, by being loved totally when we’re born — then we enter into a world of loss, a mystery of loss. Every time you lose a job, or something precious, or there’s death, there’s loss. We cannot live without this movement of loss and gain. But some people are so frightened of loss, they are just scared stiff of loss.’

‘You can’t escape it,’ said Jean Vanier, gently. ‘In the end, you even lose what you feel is yourself. We all do. There’s a beauty in that. There’s a beauty even in something like Alzheimer’s, because it is a cry. It’s not a disaster, it’s a cry for a one-to-one.’ - Jean Vanier interview on the documentary, Summer in the Forest.

Today I am reminded of my experience last Sunday at Mass.

“If we are to grow in love, the prisons of our egoism must be unlocked. This implies suffering, constant effort and repeated choices.” - Jean Vanier

SUMMER IN THE FOREST (2017) OFFICIAL TRAILER from Summer In The Forest on Vimeo.

Why bother? AI Art.

Art for the AI generation

Art and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Rutgers University

Why bother?

I was going to do a post about art after coming home from Target the other day.  They sell art - paintings - painted in China.  At least I think it's China.  You can have anything copied in China, and online retailers can arrange that or simply sell knock offs, while others like Pier One Imports and Target sell original art - sofa size paintings at affordable, even cheap prices.  

In fact, recently I saw a piece painted by an acquaintance which reminded me of some of the Target and Pier One original paintings I've come across lately.  His work would sell for much more than the 'designer' art which seems to be flooding the market.  Designer catalogs offer similar art comparable to emerging and famous artist's paintings found at an art show or gallery.  Which means, some day there will be a lot of art floating around which may or may not be anything more than 'decorator art'.

Now there is Artificial Intelligence work to compete with.

Why bother?  I wonder how much of my stuff has ended up trashed or in a garage sale, or gessoed over for someone else to paint for a school project?  I saw a piece at an antique dealer once - an icon being sold as a Russian work.  Then of course, there is my Fatima icon that looks to have been painted over and claimed as an original by the 'icon writer'.  

Why bother?

I may burn everything I have left.

Tears of Our Lady of Sodak.

I went out to pray my rosary and the chaplet after a rainstorm and noticed Our Lady's icon had drops left upon it that looked like tears.  One tear on her cheek, one in her eye, one upon the cheek of the Infant Jesus.  The tears were dried after I finished my prayers, except for the tear which filled Our Lady's eye.

I left the makeshift arch which supported

frost covers for the young plants in early spring.

Morning Glories should cover it

and create a sort of grotto.  

All the flowers in the garden

are blue this year for OL of Fatima.

Crazy mood today ... and every thing cracks me up.

-source-

Should Catholics Boycott Jim Gaffigan?

Can. 915 Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion.

Should Gaffigan and his wife be denied Communion?


Canon 915 and all.  It must be enforced.  Maybe their kids should be removed from their care, many are aghast because their kids wore Pride shirts and carried Pride flags which mean serious intent to defy Catholic teaching and publicly dissent by attending a Pride parade in NYC?  Maybe not though.
There has been a discussion on Facebook, and evidently Catholics cannot support Jim Gaffigan any longer.  I'm not a fan or follower - but I guess many Catholics have been big fans of his humor because he's Catholic, and like Colbert, that's part of his schtickt.  Just like Fr. James Martin wished everyone a happy Pride day - these comedians did too.  Vincible ignorance or outright dissent?  I don't know.

A Catholic theologian in a bubble took great offense at the Gaffigan tweet.  Mothers with children are once again afraid to leave the house and condemn parents who bring their kids to Pride.  I really do get that.  I'd never go myself and if I had kids I wouldn't dream of exposing them to that.  Actually, I wouldn't let them watch Disney films or television, or take them to Disney World either.

I've never been to a gay Pride parade.  I do not like parades.  I never liked parades or the circus, and that's kind of what Pride is anyway.  I went to a Pride celebration in a park downtown with some friends years ago, but it didn't interest me and seemed really tacky.  To be honest I am a great big homophobe - I hate myself.  I have never been happy with any label, and I especially hate the gay label - so I'm definitely homophobic.  However, people who use those terms don't scare me - those who call me gay or homophobic - that doesn't bother me - well, maybe a little.  People that do so usually want nothing to do with me - or the Catholic Church.  I have been, can be, or could be friends with them, but they don't like it when I don't socialize with them.  I know - so how is that being a friend?  I don't know.  Stealing a line from Carlo Carretto, all I can say is: "Those who believe that they can speak of what is in the depths of their own soul betray their own inexperience."  I'm helpless.

You can't say gay or identify as gay, but you can say Jesus Loves Gay People.


Same sex attracted evangelical Catholics can do that, because they are quick to tell them they are not really gay.  I guess.  But Jim Gaffigan says gay and jokes about his 'gay children' and he must be condemned - or at least be held accountable and explain himself because he was at the Pride parade.  I doubt he sees it that way.  But I don't know him.

We all know that in major urban areas Catholic parishes actually participate in Pride parades - many Catholics in the pews think it's just fine, as do their pastors.  Gay friendly parishes exist and bishops say nothing.  Cardinal Tobin recently celebrated Mass with New Ways Ministry.  James Martin just wrote a book on building a bridge.  (See why people are confused?)

In NYC Catholic Militants went nuts when gay participants were permitted to march in the St. Patrick's Day parade.  They condemn that, and condemn gays when they get their own parade, and condemn Catholics for attending.  Gaffigan is an entertainer, an ordinary Catholic, Catholics see the welcome wagons out and yet they're condemned if they extend a welcoming hand?

So Jesus loves Gay People, but Catholics don't?  I know what's going on.  I really do.  We hate the sin but love the sinner.  And you can't say gay after you get them in church.  You can go to the Pride parade if you hand out holy cards and evangelize.  Pope Francis would even approve.  I see how that works.  Nevertheless, what I'm saying is, see how that looks to non-religious people, or fallen away people who already think God hates them even though you tell them he loves gay people but they are not gay and can't use the word?

I know.  I'm wrong.  I'm all over the place on this and I don't even know why I join in on these conversations.  And it doesn't matter what I say.  

However. 

Thomas Peters has a very good post on why it is wrong for Christians to participate in these activities, or endorse the events themselves, pointing out how they tend to be inherently anti-Christian, and especially anti-Catholic.  Frequently drag queens portray Our Lady in an offensive manner, or they perform some sort of sexualized simulation of Christ, while 'gay' saints can be represented in the 'festivities'.  Peters acknowledges that many ordinary people may not be aware of these activities, or simply naive about how participation in the outward show of support is ignorant of the fact the Pride phenomenon is in effect an out and out protest against Judeo-Christian moral teaching.

Some Christians are, I grant, unaware of the full implications of what they are doing, but whether they mean to do something contrary to the faith or not, it is still a public act that implies endorsement of several anti-Christian positions. - Peters

See, that's a reasonable, sensible, calm approach to the issue.  It's why I said people need to give Gaffigan a break in the first place.

That said, Thomas Peters short essay makes the best point for not waving a Pride flag I've read in long time.  I hope everyone reads it - especially the bishops and priests who have an all too benevolent attitude upon the homosexual condition itself:

Today, something similar, I suggest, is being tried with the “rainbow flag” of the LGBT movement. Waving the flag, identifying with it, and participating in the public parades staged by gay activists all convey an agreement with an agenda that, at its heart, contradicts and denies, among other things, the teachings of Christ and His Church about the nature and destiny of the human person. - Thomas Peters

Waving a rainbow flag is no longer a neutral act.  Works for me.

"We are fools on Christ’s account, but the super Catholics are wise in Christ; we are weak, but they are strong; they are held in honor, but we in disrepute."

And what are bricks worth anyway? 

What matters is the promise of Christ, 

what matters is the cement that unites the bricks, 

which is the Holy Spirit. 

Only the Holy Spirit is capable of building the church 

with such poorly molded bricks as are we. 

- Carlo Carretto

Brick by brick ...

After Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of Avila, and the writings of John of the Cross, one of the first contemporary spiritual writers I read after my conversion was Carlo Carretto and his book, The God Who Comes.  The book literally seized me and ignited a great devotion to prayer, while remaining in the world, as they say.  The urban desert.  Fortunately, I had a wonderful spiritual director at the time, a very practical man.  He warned me away from the 'Wanderer' types and those who rejected everything written after 1960.  He watched me make mistakes, and was there to help me learn from them.  But anyway.

Little Brother Carlo sounded a lot like Pope Francis.  Back in the day I was told to 'be careful' of his writings.  His little book was like my very first "Philokalia" on my pilgrimage.  Today's readings reminded me of that: "Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father's house to a land I will show you."  I'm still on that journey.

Carretto was a prophet in my life - in my journey.  His words, so completely simple echoed God's will for my life.  Yesterday at Mass I experienced a sort of epiphany, I suppose.  Hard to explain.  I like to think, 'I found my place - at the end of the line.'  I'm reminded of St. Paul's admonition, "'Associate with the lowly' - because that is what you are."

“We often fail to realize the depth of evil, terrifying as it is. I am not speaking only of the selfishness of the wealthy, heaping up riches for themselves, or of those who sacrifice to achieve their self-selected goals. Or of the dictator who breathes in the incense due only to God. I am speaking of the selfishness of good people, devout people, those who have succeeded through spiritual exercises and self-denial in being able to make the proud profession before the altar of the Most High, “Lord, I am not like the rest of men.” Yes, we have had the audacity at certain times of our lives to believe we are different from other men. And here is the deepest form of self-deception, dictated by self-centeredness at its worst: spiritual egotism. This most insidious form of egotism even uses piety and prayer for its own gain.” - Little Brother Carlo

Echoes of our Holy Father Francis.

"Hear, O daughter, and see; turn your ear,

forget your people and your father's house." - Psalm 45

Mass chat: What a bunch of Mullarkey ... redux.

"For those who want a more manly Church, a more manly Jesus, and a more severe mercy, let them embrace great penance and mortification then."

I wrote that after reading Maureen Mullarkey's ridiculous essay on Divine Mercy as an effeminate devotion.  The very manly gun-toting Fr. Z chimed in with his two cents which didn't help.  Another feminist lady took offense to Fr. Z's POV, but pretty much gave Mullarkey a free pass.  What is wrong with these people?  What is wrong with me that I respond?

The Catholic feminist to whom Z-man actually responded to, made one very good observation  - that the Church herself is feminine since she is the Bride of Christ.  That is true - read John of the Cross and you understand the soul is referred to in feminine terms as well - male mystics even speak in those terms - as the bride.  Even in the Old Testament God reveals himself as Israel's husband.  The thing is, there is a difference between feminine and effeminate.  Effeminacy is a vice.  Which makes Mullarkey's point of view that the Divine Mercy devotion is effeminate perhaps even worse.  But I digress.  If only Mullarkey could savor and abide by - with the same determination of donning a mantilla for Mass - St. Paul's admonition that women should not be teachers or have authority, seeing she is so concerned about an effeminate Church.  (Actually it surprises me that a consistently misogynist cleric such as Fr. Z would give Mullarkey any credence at all.)

Is the vice of effeminacy pervasive in the Church?

Who am I to judge?  Yet the abandonment of one's vocation comes to mind as one major sign of effeminacy - even more significant than the wearing of lovely capes and living with comfy furnishings, delighting in delicate food and drink, luxury and leisure.  An “effeminate man is one who withdraws from good on account of sorrows caused by lack of pleasures, yielding as it were to a weak motion.”  And some priests leave ministry because it's hard to be a priest and persevere until death.

It has nothing to do with conversing at a kitchen table with a woman, speaking about things of the heart - and the role of Divine Mercy in our eternal salvation.  The Medieval mystics such as Julian of Norwich enjoyed homely and familiar exchanges with Christ.  Yet Mullarkey makes fun of St. Faustina's visions, claiming they "conjure a feminized Jesus—a kitchen table Jesus drained of masculinity; one who feels, who talks about his feelings as a woman would. Worse, He Who spoke the universe into existence speaks to Faustina in the phrasings of a dime novel."

They want tough Church Militant types then?  Manly combat rosaries?  A severe judge?

Then what about corporal penances - how do we do with all that sort of manly stuff?  Perhaps the holster for one's gun is too tight or digs into your fatty side and causes discomfort?  That's a good one.  Offered up, it maybe helps to combat the vice of delicacy.  How about living as a refugee or immigrant when you vacation or travel?  Just for a day, maybe?  Or just for one flight delayed, how about not bitching about it?  St. Faustina lived a life of obedience and constant mortification, according to a somewhat rigid horarium in a convent.  That was not an easy life in Poland.

Mullarkey complains, "A feminized Church is a weak institution. It puts soft devotions ahead of the Cross."  Really?  The devotion to DM is devotion to the Passion and Death of Christ.  She's really screwed up in her thinking here.  She just doesn't know.  So the Church is a weak institution?  Well who wants to live in an institution?  Seriously, I'd say that is actually a good thing, since the Church more closely resembles her spouse.  As St. Paul said, "Christ's power is perfected in weakness."

The effeminate doth protest too much, methinks.

Saint Faustina: "Oh, how sweet it is to toil for God and souls! I want no respite in this battle, but I shall fight to the last breath for the glory of my King and Lord. I shall not lay the sword aside until He calls me before His throne; I fear no blows, because God is my shield. It is the enemy who should fear us, and not we him. Satan defeats only the proud and the cowardly, because the humble are strong. Nothing will confuse or frighten a humble soul. I have directed my flight at the very center of the sun's heat, and nothing can lower its course. Love will not allow itself to be taken prisoner, it is free like a queen. Love attains God." - diary, p.199

Cardinal Burke really gets around.

“Happy is the man who can make a living by his hobby” 

If you didn't know better you'd think he's Cardinal Congeniality, celebrity ambassador of goodwill.

He appears all over the world.  Just a bit ago he was in Brazil, now he's in Chartres, talking about the dubia and Fatima consecrations and stuff.  He really makes the rounds.  Reminds me of a priest I know.

Truth be told, if you weren't Catholic all you'd think the Pope does is meet and greet groups of people and heads of state.  Nice work if you can get it.  I guess.  Most of it has absolutely nothing to do with salvation.

So why do people make such a big deal about what they say when they're meeting and greeting with all of these people, and in some cases being wined and dined and posing for endless photo ops?  Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Something I read in a fortune cookie: Try to engage in critical thinking before jumping to conclusions.

Works for me.

Spirit Daily Asks: Have Angels Really Been Caught On Tape?

Touched by angels.

And I say YES!

Once when I was flying to New York I looked out and Della Reese was sitting on the wing of the plane - looking at me with attitude.  I never liked that show.

I'm not going back on that Bridge.

(Leonora Carrington)

I'm stepping back from the LGBTQ Bridge Building project.

I think it was Dawn Eden who connected PTSD to the effects of childhood sexual abuse in adults.  I've always shied away from using a term like that, since I'm unwilling to diminish the meaning of the disorder for survivors of very severe trauma, such as suffered by wounded vets, victims of torture, and so on.  Nevertheless, there are aspects of PTSD which may be attributed to psychological trauma caused by abuse and other negative experiences.  Maybe that's what is wrong with me.

I always step into it when I write about gay-ssa-lgbtq crap.  It is crap, let me tell you.  Even as I read supportive books and articles - supportive of leaving gay behind and promoting Catholic teaching, offering encouragement for one who has spent many decades integrating oneself into the sacramental life of the Church, it is difficult to deal with all the 'talk' which surrounds it.  You want to move on but the controversy can pull you down.  For me it's like always talking about exorcism and exorcists and demonology and possession - when you handle pitch you get dirty.  Frequently, those engaged in ministry - on either side of the issue can make mistakes and exceed established boundaries when reaching out to others.

You get accused too.  You get talked about.  You get labeled and summarily dismissed.  You carry that weight even though your shoulders have been freed of the burden.  Remember Lot's wife?  I have to remember her.  She turned to watch the Sodomites perishing, while Lot made it across the bridge.  She got stuck there - and turned to stone.  I don't want to go back on that bridge, much less look back.

There are many good people online to help others discern the truth about homosexuality and authentic Catholic teaching - there are also crackpots who deviate from Catholic teaching.  I have nothing to offer anyone on the subject, except to direct people to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and documents on the subject at the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith.  Courage Apostolate is the best resource for how to integrate oneself into the sacramental life of the Church, as well as the best support for living a chaste, celibate, holy life in obedience to God's will.  One can join a Courage chapter, or simply use the resources offered by Courage.  The Church is enough - the sacraments and spiritual direction in confession or outside the sacrament, prayer and fidelity to the duties of one's state in life is sufficient for salvation.  A Catholic, no matter what his background, should be able to be accepted and able to fit into the ordinary parish community.  One can always trust the Church but remember her ministers are only human and sometimes over-compensate and err on the side of caution, or worse, permissiveness.  Men will always dissappoint you.  Christ is for you and is faithful - even when we or his ministers are not.

That's all I need to say.

The Crucifixion by Altichiero da Zevio c.1380 Detail. 

The angels take the soul of the 'good thief'.

The Cross is a denial of self, but in service to the will of God himself who makes life come from death and empowers those who trust in him to practise virtue in place of vice. 

To celebrate the Paschal Mystery, it is necessary to let that Mystery become imprinted in the fabric of daily life. To refuse to sacrifice one's own will in obedience to the will of the Lord is effectively to prevent salvation. Just as the Cross was central to the expression of God's redemptive love for us in Jesus, so the conformity of the self-denial of homosexual men and women with the sacrifice of the Lord will constitute for them a source of self-giving which will save them from a way of life which constantly threatens to destroy them. 

Christians who are homosexual are called, as all of us are, to a chaste life. As they dedicate their lives to understanding the nature of God's personal call to them, they will be able to celebrate the Sacrament of Penance more faithfully and receive the Lord's grace so freely offered there in order to convert their lives more fully to his Way. - Letter to Bishops 1986

Is Mercy "a symptom of a feminized Church"?

Some Catholics seem to think so.

Maureen Mularkey did a post questioning "the integrity of the (Divine Mercy) devotion’s promulgation and the sensibility it encourages." Fr. Z happens to be one of those priests who are not attracted to the DM devotion, promulgated by his hero John Paul II. That's cool - Catholics are not obliged to believe in or follow private revelations or the devotions inspired by them. I know very good priests/bishop who has no attraction for the DM devotion and feast day. Nevertheless, the paintress (to use a Z-ism) who exploits drag queens in her art, has some strange things to say about the 'feminized' devotion.  Fr. Z sums up some of her concerns this way:

Namely… 

• As anecdotal evidence goes, there seem to be more Catholics uneasy with the Faustina engine—fueled as it is on syrup—than I had expected.

• My essay said nothing about feminized priests. It mentioned only the painting of a feminized Jesus, cloaked in a gauzy haze and drained of virility.

• Faustina’s visions conjure a feminized Jesus—a kitchen table Jesus drained of masculinity; one who feels, who talks about his feelings as a woman would. Worse, He Who spoke the universe into existence speaks to Faustina in the phrasings of a dime novel. - Fr. Z

I never thought of devotion to the Precious Blood - and water flowing from the side of Christ as 'syrup'.

Mullarkey and Z-man are smart people.  They know the adage, "what is received is received according to the mode of the receiver."  Or at least they should know it - they seem to know everything. I'd also like to point out that even Faustina disliked the original image, and Christ assured her: "Not in the beauty of the color, nor of the brush lies the greatness of this image, but in My grace." That said, most private revelations between nuns and the Sacred Heart of Jesus are usually expressed in sweetly emotional terms, if not coupled with somewhat dramatic, heartrending laments. Jesus has often repeated how deeply his heart is wounded because of our lack of trust in his mercy. I'm quite certain even in his colloquies with Margaret Mary he expressed himself in that tone. He certainly did so with Consolata Betrone and Benigna Consolata Ferrero. He may continue to speak this way if the locutions to one priest I know of are authentic. I think of his weeping over Jerusalem and lamenting he would like to gather his people under his wings like a mother hen. I can just image the big eye-roll his disciples gave him then, huh? What about the complaint in the garden because the disciples were sleeping? Geez. Gimme a break!

"The soul gets exactly what it expects of God."

- Therese of Lisieux

When the world has grown cold, people seem not to believe in love and mercy. 

I wonder why?  St. Therese had to contend with those who criticized her little way and especially her confidence in the merciful love of God.  Therese, reluctant to debate or argue a point, once explained to one of the nuns who opposed her 'doctrine' that was just fine,  "Sister, if you want divine justice, you will get divine justice. The soul gets exactly what it expects of God."

For those who want a more manly Church, a more manly Jesus, and a more severe mercy, let them embrace great penance and mortification then.  Let them sell their possessions and live in a dump.  Let them give up luxury and live like an alien, an immigrant.  If they think the Church after Vatican II is all about being 'nice', 'feminized' and 'sentimental', let them think that and let them show the world how hard it is to be a Christian.

It is striking that the man who promoted the Divine Mercy devotion and elevated it to a feast, as well as canonized St. Faustina, was so not a feminized man - the complete opposite.  He was a virile pope and now a saint.  Or are his devotees now tougher on him?  Some traditionalists seem to be rethinking their devotion to JPII and Benedict XVI in light of VII documents such as Nostra Aetate.  Perhaps this mercy stuff can get trashed now as well?

Interestingly enough, there is one mystic Jesus was pretty rough on, although he pretty much just humiliated her and called her names, and yet still appealed for the love and devotion and trust of mankind in his merciful love.

“Come all of you to Me and fear not, for I Love you all... I will wash you in My Blood and you shall be made whiter than snow. All of your offences will be submerged in the waters in which I myself shall wash you, nor shall anything whatsoever be able to tear from My Heart its Love for you." - Jesus to Sr. Josefa Menendez

A bunch of Mullarkey.